Who Gets Credit for Green Industrial Policy?

The United States government passed a climate law in 2022 that included over half a trillion dollars in clean energy production and manufacturing incentives. Policymakers intended for these new green projects to create political constituencies that support the clean energy transition. This paper tests this hypothesis using geolocated survey and investment data. We find that while the public sometimes recognizes visible green projects in their community, this proximity does not affect credit attribution. Americans view their governors as more responsible than the federal government for green investments. To measure credit-claiming, we construct an original database of all company and politician statements about green investments. We find that companies are most likely to give credit to state and local actors, and governors are much likelier to to claim credit than federal politicians. This mixed information environment provides one reason why the public does not attribute more credit to the federal government for green investments. When it is challenging for people to trace economic outcomes back to public policies, reforms are unlikely to affect mass opinion.